Contact: Sammy McDavid
J. Charles Lee
J. Charles Lee, Mississippi State's interim president, will deliver the university's fall semester commencement address Dec. 14.
More than 1,300 university students are candidates for degrees. Graduates will receive diplomas during the public ceremony beginning at 10 a.m. in Humphrey Coliseum.
Lee was named last week to lead the Starkville institution until a replacement can be named for MSU President Malcolm Portera, who departs Dec. 31 to become chancellor of the University of Alabama System.
Since 1999, Lee has served as MSU vice president for agriculture, forestry and veterinary medicine, and, since 2000, as dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. From 1978-83, he was dean of forest resources and associate director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
During the intervening years, he held several major leadership positions in the Texas A&M University System, among them interim A&M executive vice president and provost during 1994 and 1995. He was vice chancellor for research, planning and continuing education during the four years prior to returning to MSU.
Lee holds bachelor's and doctoral degrees from North Carolina State University.
If their levels of academic achievement continue through final exams, three MSU seniors will be recognized for completing their undergraduate studies with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages. They include Hilma M. Davis of Pierson, Fla., Jason M. Simpson of Holly Pond, Ala., and Jonathan B. Stringer of Clinton.